May 27 What Makes for a Vibrant Innovative Community?

What makes a city innovative? It depends on the type of innovation that is taking place.

According to this Canadian study, if it’s science-based innovation, then neighborhoods tend to reflect suburbia. Open spaces, easy driving/parking, campuses. Creative industries, on the other hand, tend to thrive in more densely-packed neighborhoods. As well, creatives often live and work in the same neighborhood, while science-based innovators drive to their spaced out neighborhoods or lived in clusters of nerdistans nearby.

Interestingly, creatives have plenty of dining and drinking options integrated into their immediate surroundings, while the science innovators have very few. Perhaps that explains the interest of Soylent and Schmilk among the pointy-headed.